but first, a nice rally underway. back to the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole standing by. >> it is off of their earlier highs, still dig games as he noticed both the dow and the s&p up 0.7%. the nasdaq the best of the bunch, so they are approaching that 1% mark here for the major averages. the dow hit an intraday record all-time-s&p hit a multiyear intraday high, the nasdaq still with an up arrow not raking any highs at the moment. the fear index has pulled back today, so not a lot of worries. factory orders have jumped, waiting for later in the week. @conomic data throughout the week but also our monthly jobs report will be out on friday, some news out of japan. i wanted to take a look at a

trading deal that is really big news. that stock is jumping up almost 42%. the nasdaq pulling back about 10% on the news. agreeing to buy the platform from bgc. all total, deal value about $1.23 billion, and obviously bgc is jumping on this news. back to you. melissa: commodities are broadly lower with oil on track for a second straight decline. fox business contributor with the pith of the cme. what is weighing on the market? >> i think the market is going higher partly because of supplies. tomorrow a report that may show the u.s. crude supplies are at the highest level in over 22 years. that is a pretty incredible number and the reason you may not want to get too long on this market.

if you look at the spread, that is what has been fascinating. in recent days the spread is why they need out again. part of it is because the exxonmobil pipeline that could cause a backup of crude in the united states, and also because of concerns about north korea. the little bit of a risk on trade for oil in that part of the world in europe. the other part of the market its product today, probably the biggest surprise has been justly and getting hammered, down mainly because of refiners running at a very high rate ahead of schedule. the other big one, natural gas has been hanging around $4 like a magnet. talking about cutting a deal to get imports of gas for the united states to japan. the major political issue. japan putting pressure on the obama administration, they want

our gas, they want it bad. back to you, melissa. melissa: still around $4. thanks so much. a tough start to the year for apple. goldman sachs is rubbing a little salt in the iphone maker's wounds. shibani joshi has the story. >> apple is off of there. goma moving from the conviction buy list. issuing a report today about apple saying the following, most recent product cycle has not driven the market share and new user growth we had anticipated and we believe apple may find it difficult as they hit consensus expectations in the march and june quarters. another reason goldman is cutting its estimates or think it could cut after this on apple is because of this whole china issue. apple has been under attack over the last three weeks accusing

the cupertino company treating citizenemployees as second rate citizens. we recognize some people have lack of communication as arrogant, talking about the warranty policy as a sign we didn't care about the value of their feedback. we sincerely apologize to our customers for any concern or confusion we may have caused. there is very good reason for apple and tim cook to be focused on china. this country and the smart phone holders and users have actually overtaken the united states in the first quarter of this year. china has surpassed the united states in terms of buyers for apple and android devices. this is the most important market apple has. people are coming in and scooping up shares of apple up 1.82%. the reason is goldman thinks the

company will return cash to shareholders, goldman predicts it will happen. saying we believe apple is set to announce a new capital allocation plan in short order in a substantial increase in its dividend and or share repurchase authorization providing a healthy floor for the stock price. investors agreeing as the stock is up and people wait for the cash payback everybody has been waiting for. melissa: stay tuned. shibani joshi, thank you so much. lori: the doomsday call heard around the world. issuing a warning for investors saying when the economy burst, there will be no new round of bailouts, america will descend into an era of zero-sum austerity kissing wishing even evil remnants of economic growth. but how much stock should we put in david stockman's outlook? our next guest is firing back calling it an original scare tactic.

opening his editor for forbes and we're so pleased to have you joining us. so you did right a long rebuttal, and i wish we had more time to chat, but give me the cliff notes version reason you were inspired to write this rebuttal. >> he talks about markets hitting an all-time high because of the quantitative easing, but my argument is the market is already problematic. these are highs hit 12 years ago, the fed is the problem. when the federal reserve engages in quantitative easing, it is specifically devaluing the dollar, investors are buying future income stream so what stockman is not asking is how much higher the stock market would be today, probably exponentially higher if the fed weren't intervening the way that it is. ms analysia misanalysis by stoc.

lori: you say the quantitative easing will end in tears. so what do you think happens to the market and the overall economy once the fed takes a foot off the gas? >> i think ultimately they will be much better off. the sole purpose of money is to facilitate the exchange of goods, that is why you want a stable dollar. what the fed is doing is perverting the rule of the dollar and driving investors away from companies new ideas without investments with no new companies and no new jobs, so that is the problem. they are propping up the economy, said the fed's actions are keeping the economy down. lori: interesting. so what do you think stockman's motives is? this piece got so much traction, and went totally viral, we're talking about it more than 24 hours later. >> let's face it, stockman has been trying to scare people about the budget deficit and things like this for at least 30 years and there he misses the

point. the budget deficit is not the crisis, the crisis is federal spending itself. he didn't ask all the microsoft and google and intel, transportation innovation, they have never occurred precisely because the government is spending so much. stockman writes as though we have been living high on the hog for 30 years. think how much better we would be living if the federal government hadn't been spending so much. lori: if you say you have a problem with stockman, the real spending is the crisis. some argue six of one, half a dozen of another. >> deficit is another way of financing major government spending. a dollar is a dollar is a dollar. the crisis is here and now. we have to ask ourselves how much better our lives would be if the government weren't taking so much resource from the private sector and instead leaving it to entrepreneurs to

start new businesses. to once again cure cancer and heart disease. engage in transportation innovation making today's cars look pedestrian. it is what we have lost. the big government is the problem on the economy. if we cut spending, we would be much better off economically and far more advanced. lori: your last sentence, it is time to divorce ourselves from the fallacies at the moment so suffocating our future. what does it mean for folks? >> these people are the ones who are suffering the most. texas are a price paid on work. the value of the dollar is anti-investment, that are not companies being created which means less jobs and less investment opportunities for those people trying to save for college, and so the problem is

we suffer the here and now, government doing too much and it is too much for economic growth. going back to the 80s and 90s when the dollar was strong and regulations going down and trade in a more free direction, we would have prosperity especially in a country like ours is very easy. lori: never enough time on television, but i'm so glad you were able to join us this afternoon. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me on. melissa: fascinating. lori: he had a great point but could not get into, putting it most simply. melissa: stockton, california, earning the title of the most populous city to go bankrupt. lori: lou dobbs on intensifying threat to north korea. how worried should we be. and what if kim jong-un flips

the switch on his new reactor. melissa: the pope getting into the bank oversight business. we will explain that one next. lori: take a look at medals. ♪

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lori: good times. charles payne this hour, looking to add an internet and the need to your portfolio. charles: i'm trying to find things that aren't necessarily running. although there is nothing wrong with a stock being at an all-time high and still be cheap. still, interactive, they have meet everyone. match is a big one. melissa: are you sucking on a mint? you are trying to have fresh breath for us.

we appreciate it. that is why you are chewing on a mint. charles: thank you for buying me time. match.com has been a money machine. this stock is like $10 below the 52-week high. he has talked about the public,f the market not understanding the value of this company. i have to believe something like this is just making him so angry. i don't know if it is angry enough to pull a michael dell, but i saw the valuation historical regular valuations like p/e ratio, it is extraordinarily cheap. i think it can make up those points, be a huge percentage gain and i wouldn't be surprised if they spun off. all of these were incubated and they spun them off, match has been a huge moneymaker. melissa: it is really cranking.

everybody who is single is on match.com, it seems. charles: has he ever seen their headquarters on the west side? melissa: yes. charles: when i was watching it being built, not one of the columns was up and down. i wonder about the structural integrity. melissa: but you notice it, it is new age, modern. charles: it is cool on the outside. if they offer me a job and it was really good pay, i would work there. but the stock really is a great buy. people who are afraid of chasing good value. melissa: charles payne, fantastic. as we do every 15 minutes, let's check the market, nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange.

nicole: now setting off in the second quarter, some interesting fashion in a good way. looking at names like humana and united health care. up almost 7% off of the earlier highs, still gaining. there have been announcements for medicare and medicaid, increase payments favorable decisions in capitol hill have helped the whole group overall. united health care. united health care is a top gainer on the dow jones industrial averages. hitting a 52-week high. raymond james raised their price target, as i was talking i should have told you deutsche bank raised their price target. up 15%, 17% respectively. lori: pope francis ray tube

tackle one of the vatican's biggest issues. reform in the vatican scandal ridden bank. the allegations of money laundering going on. last year european anti-money-laundering body found the bank failed to meet some of its standards on fighting financial crime. they believe the vatican would undergo serious restructuring rather than being closed. melissa: and they were only accepting cash for a while because the atms weren't working. all because of this. this was one of the reasons they really wanted to turn this around. lori: hopefully pope francis is the man to clean it up. lou dobbs joins us next. north korea planning to restart a nuclear reactor that has been closed for five years? melissa: $10 per hour? illinois minimum wage already the fourth highest in the nation now wants to hike pay by 20%. why she says that would actually

be a business killer. lori: and we heard on the bitter rebuttals to john stockman's piece saying this is a big problem how the u.s. fed has depressed the u.s. dollar, so we're seeing a stronger dollar today, but it is historically illiteratalittle weaker. we are back after this. welcome to the new new york state. what's the "new" in the new new york? a new property tax cap... and the lowest middle class income tax rate in 60 years... and a billion dollars in tax breaks and incentives.

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>> 23 minutes past the hour, this is your fox news minute. former educators in atlanta indicted in a cheating scandal have begun to turn themselves in to authorities. a total of 35 people who work for the city's public schools including a former superintendent are accused of cheating on standardized tests to give their students higher scores. president obama: congress to spend $100 million next year on a new project to map the human brain. the goal to find cures for parkinson's and autism in the rivers the effects of a stroke or other dramatic injuries.

jury selection in los angeles for wrongful death lawsuit filed by michael jackson's mother. katherine jackson seeking billions of dollars from tour promoter aeg over the death. accusing the company of hiring dr. conrad murray. he is currently in jail after giving the pop singer an overdose of propofol. melissa: thank you. austria turning up the heat again. a country is restarting plutonium reactor in increasing production of nuclear weapons material. the reactor which is about 60 miles north of the nation's capital was close back in 2007 as part of an international disarmament agreement providing aid to korea. how serious should we take this threat? joining us now, lou dobbs. >> it is interesting they are taking it as seriously as they are. using at least two flights of

b-52s completed with dropping dummy bombs at the end of the mission with the b-52s. since we are taking it seriously, i am not sure we are taking it seriously strategically, however. sending the missile destroyer and one of the newest warship design for coastal warfare, into what could be a freight, these are significant moves we are making telling them we are taking them seriously. the republic of korea obviously is. but what is deeply disturbing to me as we have 35,000 of our troops just south, they have been there for 60 years. they have been there as a trigger. they would popular call the redline. but the dmz is a redline.

this fool, kim jong-un continues his behavior. this is more than just threatening. this is a man who continues to ratchet up the threats that he is making. now with saying their restarting their nuclear program which they have a poorly shot down 2007 when president bush decided it was a good-faith measure he will take them off the state-sponsored. lori: help me with this question. has to do with real politics. the president seems to be someone who wants to take action versus just moving the chess pieces so to speak on the board. in the past you had nations that would sort of cancel each other out in a way. it seems this president is more

interested in doing more than rattling. lou: i think you're making a good point, he is making moves, but it is unclear what game he is playing. there is no apparent strategy, there's no strategy that is first of all evident in the middle east when he goes after libya, egypt and syria. to what end, to what purpose, what is the result? it is unclear, contradictory to a man who says he wants -- he has a nobel peace prize. i'm not sure this is the way one pursues that after the fact. i think your point is well taken. it is unclear what his purpose is in his moves. a lack of clarity in international politics and geopolitics particularly with the forces of a raid from china,

from russia, north korea, and the united states and the region. you want things to be clear, you want the strategies to be clear. because we have an immense advantage in technology and weaponry. but that advantage has negated for a lack of careful purposeful thought. our military is strained and sending off flights of aircraft, whether they be the advanced b-2 or the b-52. these are risky propositions and in themselves not a solution. lori: thank you. melissa: you can see lou dobbs here everyday and at 7:00 eastern. you will have more later tonight. very interesting. lori: another dismal economic reading out of europe, but one stat is an absolute jaw dropper. the unemployment rate at a

staggering 65% -- 55%. we will tell you where next. melissa: and why these people are dancing on tte steps of the state capitol in washington. ahead.

melissa: breaking news. apple will begin producing a refreshed iphone.

shares initially popping on the news. right now, though, they have backed off of those highs. lori: not a iphone six, just a refreshed iphone. do you have anything on the apple news? nicole: i am not seeing apple where i am standing right now. we did see the stock today. we have all up arrows. it has been that way all day long. the dow is at an all-time record. taking a look at delta and a few of the others. they are all to the downside

today. trying to trim the amount. raising the prices and the like. back to you. melissa: thank you. we are following the latest developments out of cyprus. he was in third for exactly five weeks. lori: there is bad news for the rest of the euro zone. hitting a record 12%. this may not be much of a

surprise. there is growing split between northern and southern europe. the overall unemployment rate in spain is 23.6%. the jobless rate for people under the age of 25 is nearly 56%. melissa: illinois has one of the highest minimum wage rates that $8.25 an hour. my next guest says the higher animal wage in the state will be a business killer. joining me now is tanya triche. why do you think this is a bad idea? it is a terrible idea.

>> is on sound economic policy. the team unemployment rate is 28%. only 28% of teenagers in illinois are working. in the city of chicago, unemployment of african american teens is around 9%. melissa: it is perhaps not a coincidence that illinois has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country. it also has the fourth highest minimum wage.

>> indiana, iowa, missouri and wisconsin. they have a minimum wage of $7.25. do you think business is really that fluent? can they really pick up and move business out of state? >> businesses are looking at a number of factors. one of them, of course, is the cost to do business. the state of illinois is a dollar higher than all of our reporting states, that gives employers a disincentive to do that here. liberals always make the argument that if you raise the minimum wage, people have more money to spend. it is actually a boost to the economy to pay people more. >> it may be a flight boost for

those who are making more money. what businesses are going to do is they will do more with less they will either start letting people go or they will close in their ring. they will stop hiring altogether. those folks that are knocking on the door, trying to get a job opportunity, those doors will be closed. melissa: 80% of the people that get minimum wage are not head of household. it leaves 20% that are trying to support a family on minimum wage. >> again, 20% of the people, i just want to be clear, 20% of the people that are making minimum wage are head of household. over 60% are teenagers and young

adults. when you talk about raising the minimum wage, the category of people that are hurting the most are teenagers and adults that are looking for the opportunity to get into the working world. melissa: very true. thank you so much for coming on. >> thank you. lori: it is the biggest and largest city controversy today point stockton, california. melissa: what the surprise about credit delinquency maybe think about the consumer. lori: the ten year yield up three basis points. no big support. we are back after this. ♪

>> i am done a deal with your fox business brief u.s. factory orders rose 3% in february. that is the biggest jump. former chairman mary schapiro has found a new job. adc consulting firm. she will be a managing director.

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melissa: it looks like more americans are getting their credit card payments and on time. peter barnes is live in washington, d.c. with more on this. peter: hey, melissa. it looks like we all may have learned something from the financial crisis. maybe we are a little scared right now.

according to the american bankers association, more people are making their credit card payment on time. the lowest level in 18 years. about 2.5% of loans were delinquent in the fourth quarter. that is coming in well below the 15 year average. one thinking economist we spoke with said it is because in part, the economy is getting better. >> there is a very strong connection between job growth and lower delinquency. we have seen not growing. we have started to see income improved. all of that leads to a better situation for consumers.

peter: the family from ft. wayne , indiana has does. >> we paid off of our credit card. it was nice. paid it off in full. we had the money. with the current economy, it is nice to get everything out of the way so you feel better. peter: thank you. they are going to head into the national history museum and low-fat stuffed animals. melissa: perfect day to do it. some big tech names not doing so well. nicole: that is right.

we are seeing some of the tech names pulling back. you are seeing up arrows for the major index. hewlett-packard is the biggest loser on the dow jones industrial. it really has not recovered at all throughout the day. down 5%. texas instrument, steve nicholas downgraded that one. back to you. melissa: thank you so much. lori: the biggest and most controversial. they can file for bankruptcy. what does this mean for government pensions? elizabeth macdonald has all the details for us. liz: good to be with you. the judge in the case made a really interesting statement yesterday. this filing does not mean that

there is not potentially a serious issue. here is what happening with stockton. they are solvent. they have cut back their police force and fire department. it is seeing a record number of homicides. it is the most popular city to file for bankruptcy. the creditors in this filing, some of them took up to 80% haircut. stockton borrowed a lot of new money. what these creditors are saying, wait a second, calpers should take a haircut also. if we try to cut the tension, we would see a max exited out of the city. this good hit the supreme court.

it is a case of u.s. bankruptcy law. they would be in there with other creditors. calpers is an big fights with other cities. they tried to do that and calpers bought that. calpers is also fighting riverside in california to try to stop it from filing bankruptcy. one thing that stockton has going for it and calpers has going for it, they can go into bankruptcy court and say we already wideout retiree health. let's keep the pensions in fact. back to you.

melissa: what a mess. lori: my heart really goes out to those people. thank you. lori: march sales driving past. what the brand is crediting for the past monthly since march of 2007. melissa: why washington state residents are purchasing taxes with dance. ♪ (announcer) at scottrade, our clients trade and invest exactly how they want. with scottrade's online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accounts with one login...

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melissa: march was a good month for many auto sales. the best numbers since 2007. jeff flock has the story. jeff: with the best selling truck in america for 35 straight years. this is the ford series. left take a look at the numbers overall. good month for everybody. gm, ford and chrysler are all up. take a look specifically of close and personal at trucks. that is a driver of the economy. if we take a look at trucks, specifically, the ram pickup of 25%. you are up 60%. silverado is also.

this says positive things about the economy. >> it does. the economy is on the rise. the market is starting to come back. jeff: you have a lot of competition. they are coming at you. >> 35 straight years of being number one in the truck market. ram and chevy on our tails. jeff: i want to show you the stocks. really have not seen a great appreciation and ford or gm stock despite the success of these automakers. you want to get on board before we start to see the appreciation. these guys are making a ton of dough. melissa: interesting. lori: was that a stock tip?

melissa: it seems like it. the capital steps and olympia. residence dancing. washington state began opposing a tax on dance venues. now, if provision to repeal the tax it could cost more than $880,000. did they make a movie about that? melissa: i think they did. it is not that much money and they are having this big fight about it. lori: their story isn't plastered coast to coast. makes you want to get off the seat and boogie down. melissa: we had an all-star

panel tonight on "money." that is tonight at 5:00 p.m. eastern right here on fox business. the next big wave. you do not want to miss it. lori: we have a couple hours before the trading day is history. we are talking about stockton woes. the man -- ashley webster and tracy byrnes are next here on fox business. ♪ she's still the one for you -

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tracy: good afternoon. i am tracy byrnes. ashley: i am ashley webster. the dow up 94 points. six dow stocks hitting 52 week highs.

we will ask one big money tanager and just moments. tracy: steven malanga says taxes are going up. his trillion dollar warning just ahead. ashley: bigger models leading the pack. we are gas guzzling loving americans. top of the hour. time for stocks. pushing into record territory. medical pack. nicole: we certainly are in record territory once again. at our highest point today we were at 14,684. getting closer and closer to our

15,000 mark. they were not taken out those intraday highs that we set back in 2700 we have seen a majority of dow components. a majority of them are hitting all-time highs. i wanted to quickly get over here and take a look at the loser, which is hewlett-packard. they see weak pc demand going forward. as a result, it is fitting hewlett-packard pretty hard. back to you. tracy: thank you. see you soon. ashley: unemployment hitting a record high of 12% in both january and february.

more the 26 million people are out of work across the euros the countries. also looking for a job, by the way, the finance minister of cyprus. markets appear to be shrugging off any bad news out of europe. europe could opt a pullback in the markets. we have a guest from washington now. jordan, thank you for joining us. we just gave out those very ugly numbers. could we have another summer of discontent in europe? >> sell in may and go away. perhaps as we get closer, you will feel the domino a fax.

the market is about 13 months. i would not be surprised if they start to talk at the rally. it is probably healthy for the market. ashley: you say equities are the place to be. is valuation still attract this at this point. >> valuation is not strut and pessimism is high. i do not know that now is the time to feel that the bull market is over, by any means. fixed income is not attractive. we are finding a few pockets there.

they're really good money manager can still buy assets at a discount. yes, stocks are the place to be. ashley: we have the earnings and coming up. i know so far is always set so low. if we start to see some disappointing results and not so rosy outlooks, could that be a trigger for the selloff? >> absolutely. you could see a pullback. it was probably pulled forward into the fourth quarter of 2012. ahead of potential tax increases.

companies are looking for growth. they are looking for growth companies and they are not trading out particularly high prices. i expect activity to pick up a sizable lead in the on. less supply of equity capital, more demand for it. that is usually a good sign for the market. ashley: so much being said about the fed's role. we are living in an artificial world. the u.s. is in a bubble inflated by the fed. do you think there is some truth in that? >> you know, i think david is on the one hand pretty pessimistic.

it is an interesting statistic. it is probably true. the more you torture them, the more they say what you tuesday. on the other hand, i do not think bernanke wants to repeat the mistakes in the late 90s. all of federal reserve banks have all the chips in the middle of the table to stimulate. they will have to engineer a soft landing. ashley: time will tell. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. tracy: rising sales today despite goldman sachs losing its conviction on the stock. shibani joshi is here with the

details. shibani: goldman sachs is taking apple off of its conviction buy list. here is the big picture story. it has, in the united states, the company has been under attack from chinese media. they are accusing the company of being aaron. accusing the company of trading chinese citizens like second-class citizens. tim cook is going back to the country and say we are sorry. do not forget to buy our products. we recognize that some people may have viewed our lack of communication as arrogant or a sign that we did not care or value their feedback.

we sincerely apologize to our customers for any consumer confusion we have they caused. he went on to say they have much to recognize about communicating in china. new user growth, we believe apple may find it difficult to pick and says expectations going into march and june quarters. the stock is up. people are coming in and buying. some people are saying this is a good time to buy.

ashley: some of those accusations may be true. shibani: apple has been doing a lot of that lately. tracy: we do not know what anyone would do in these situations. shibani: we cannot make predictions. ashley: thank you very much. how fannie mae is turning around after the housing crisis. tracy: topping the chart for the first quarter. is 2013 this deal still to come? bob wade then next. first, let's check on how oil is doing. oil is pretty much flat. we will be right back. ♪ all your imptant legal matters in just minutes.

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tracy: time to make some money. charles payne is here. charles: i will started off with a caveat, disclaimer, whatever you call it. it is very volatile. they make servers. all the things that go along with it. this is a company is amazing innovation. that was just a short-term chart. this stock can be up or down on any given day.

they think intel will buy if the stock is up. i think tempers that will not be enough. i think this stock is more than $70 a share. the technology look at their presentation. some of the things are three times the normal standard. five times the normal standard. they have set the bar really high.

fifty will be the style. i am looking for 65 as a trading point. tracy: talking about magic jack. charles: i got the magic jack. ashley: yes, you do. [ laughter ] tracy: charles payne, you are great. thank you. ashley: quarter past. time to check the markets. nicole petallides. nicole: this group is doing very well today. we have seen humana leading the way on the s&p 500.

this is after what we have learned from the government. this is a late monday decision. the analysts over at deutsche bank, jefferies and jpmorgan all call this best case scenario. there were concerns that they would increase the payment rates. that is great news for these health insurers. some of them are hitting 52 week highs. tracy: thank you very much. march is the slowest month. bob says do not be fold. more details are coming. ashley: let's see how the u.s. dollar is moving right now.

the euro is down again at 128. the pound also down against the dollar. we will be right back. ♪

>> at 20 minutes past the hour, i have your fox news minute. the un general assembly has approved the first treaty. the treaty speaks to seek illicit weapons out of the hands of terrorists. north korea is turning up the heat again. the country is restarting a plutonium reactor. the reactor was shut down in 2007. un secretary fears that north korea is on a collision course that could lead to war. larry, is upset with the gun manufacturers. the company used his image on a campaign to thomas is an advocate for gun control. the company has agreed to remove his image.

tracy: thank you. the momentum slowed in march a little bit. bob profusek is with now. i have to point out, you, sir, were dealmaker of the year in 2005. before we even start talking about all this stuff, what is different today than it was back then in 2005? >> it is not a financial product. it is an activity. it has been supplemented by private equity. what is different date is amazing liquidity of the financing markets. there is more money available at very attractive prices than ever

before. it is way better than that today. it is low yield debt. it comes from every place. tracy: people are getting it. >> it is amazing. look at the heinz deal. it was a giant preferred stock yielding 9%. that is a pretty good yield today. tracy: the heinz deal with berkshire hathaway, the they'll feel that we will talk about -- >> most deals, over 95% of all deals are $100 million or so. that is what pays the rent for most law firms and some investment banks. tracy: you might as well jump right in.

>> yes. you can reduce some of the costs and keep the revenue. tracy: what industry are you seeing a lot of activity? >> well, last year, and i believe this will accelerate in 2013, energy was the name of the game. it is a story people talk about a little bit. we are going through a revolutionary change. particular, the oil industry. i expect tons in the energy space. a lot of activity. you are going to see something similar, i think, and healthcare. the need to reduce cost. to reduce the overall burden of providing healthcare. tracy: smaller deals. >> yes. the deal pipeline is good.

we used to talk about these as merger mondays. there was a lot of activity. it is a billion dollars. tracy: we have to talk about dell. what do you think will happen? how do you think this will play out? >> we are using a baseball metaphor. we are in the second or third inning, at best. it is interesting that people think, well, blackstone just logged in. not really. they have a lot of work to do. they would not spend the time like this is they were not serious about trying to make this work. they have a lot to do. it is not just a computer company. people forget half the revenue is in services and other stuff. tracy: will silverlake's step up? >> it will depend on whether

they are forced to. tracy: bob profusek. thank you, sir. thank you for coming on. ashley: some americans may be getting a better grip on managing their debt. credit card delinquencies hit in almost 20 year low. peter barnes is live with more. peter: we are talking to families hear about their credit card debt. it appears all of us learn something from the financial crisis. maybe we should not have gone so much into that pit maybe we are worried about another financial crisis. people are making their credit card payments on time. payments more than 30 days delinquent fell in the fourth quarter of last year.

the lowest level since 1994. well below the teen year average of about 4% on the delinquency rate. the chief economist says all is good the stage for stronger economic growth down the road. take a listen. >> consumers are doing better job managing their debt. they leave they can really pay it off. peter: this family is in from suburban maryland. you are a education and social media consultant. you told me you just paid off your business card.

>> that is right. i am able to, thankfully. i want to be careful with things. i want to be cautious. i don't want to let that number gets too high. peter: thank you for joining us today. they just saw the hope diamond at the museum. back to you. ashley: cautious and careful. peter, think very much. consumer spending is critical to the u.s. economy. tracy: i think that helps the economy. fannie mae is doing okay. $17 billion profit. that is no april fools joke. ashley: plus, playboy's new app making news for what it does not show. that is coming up.

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>> 90 minutes to go in the market trading day. the dow 30, you got six stocks hitting 52 #-week highs today. nicole is down on the floor of the new york stock exchange. that's got to be making somebody happy, nicole. >> i'm sure it is. bulls say, yeah, i love it. intro-day highs, dow over a hundred appointments, giving back now. what do you think of the day's actions? >> april fool's. yesterday, europe was closed,

they didn't participate in the first day of the month. you saw no commitment in volume. same today, no commitment in volume, and trends indicate bear indicator. the fact of the matter there's six new highs, a little bit of a weak fns, but right now, this bull just continues to run, and we keep going higher, no matter -- >> even with the bearish indicator. like, you need the bearish trend from yesterday, but it's not happening. >> right, first day of the month, it's positive. today, you would think it rolls over, but the inflows of europe, hitting highs as europe closed to the money coming in is european money. >> see that, they don't know where to go. coming to the states. back to you. >> way to douse happiness there in the markets, ben willis. thank you very much. see you in 15 minutes. we got breaking news. oil closing up 12 cents at $97.19 a barrel. today's gain reverses

yesterday's losses. it's like a ping-pong game. >> it is, maintaining a high level, i'll tell you. >> it has. >> another sign the housing market is back. fannie mae reporting the biggest profit in history and giving some of the money back to the good old u.s. taxpayers: i'm waiting. gerri willis is here waiting too. >> no check made out to ashley webster, sorry, didn't work that way. 17.2 billion, and they still owe us $80 billion, of course. why is it happening? well, the housing recovery, friends, lifting all boats including fannie and freddie. both bailed out to the tune of what was the number? some massive freaking number -- [laughter] 80 billion? no, i'll be back to you with that, but housing recovery is reducing lateness and reducing home prices. we're made whole slowly. >> spent 188 billion. is that the number? >> i appreciate that. >> here's the thing, though. you have 22% of the properties

in the country underwater. not that great. >> so the threat looms; right? overhanging threat, and this is something that robert schiller talks about all the time. we're going to go back into kind of a housing recession. the question is can the economy truly somehow traction and recover, people hired, that prevents that from happening in my view. >> that's true. >> or do we finally realize this boom we've. having is really financed by investors. >> could you actually had a ton of guests on. >> 32% of all house sales are invested. could another positive be the uptick in the private mortgage market? forget the government backing, could have private money right now. >> like banks actually make runs to real people? shocker. >> what do you think? >> you know, we're still sort of waiting for that. it's interesting the government is still most of the mortgage market. >> yes. >> at this point, and banks really have not gotten in it. i think we're regulating them too heavily and regulating the small banks out of business.

>> yeah, that's true too. >> i know bankers in the mortgage got out because of dodd-frank. >> picking op regional banks. what's coming up tonight? >> a little of that. we have a follow-upny -- funny segment, "how to have a new kid by friday." i thought it would appeal to you, having fun with that, and asking a psychologist a question, should kids play with ipads, and by "kids," i mean 18 months, should they have ipads? parents are worried about the concern, you know, turn your toddler's brain into jelly. we don't know. not enough research out there. >> i handed my iphone to my niece. she's barely a year, she was flipping through it like she had the thing -- holy crazy. >> took money from your bank account. >> i think she did. >> added fact, nearly $2 murks billion of taxpayer money goes to fannie and freddie.

if you feel light this week, you can't go to starbucks, you know who to blame. >> still waiting for my check. gerri willis, thank you very much, with "the willis report" x and nine here on fox business. >> auto sales to good last month, the outlook for the whole year, and we have the bright spots for awe foes next. >> trucks are fueling this wonderful rebound in the car industry. talking all about that in a minute, but, first, the ten-and 30-year treasuries as we head to the break. we'll be right back.

♪ >> apple will begin production of a refreshed iphone according to the "wall street journal" saying it's similar in shape and size to the current iphone 5, but sources say the new iphone will be less expensive and could arrive in stores later on this year. bank of america will pay $165 million to settle a dispute over mortgage backed securities that sold to credit unions that later collapsed. the national credit union administration ray knownsed the settlement, and bank of america did not admit wrong doing. a federal court's judge in manhattan is questioning citigroup's 590 million plan to settle a lawsuit of hiding

assets. the judgements them on both sides to address several issues. that is the latest from the fox business network giving you the power to prosper. ♪

>> all right. the tonight show in another scuffle. i said that. >> what's new? a great word. >> suspect it, though? so when are they going to replace jay leno? it's like the longest running saga in tv history, then nighs. >> it is. as nbc tries one more time to push him into retirement, it could be ugly. again, things could be very funny as leno and the would be successor jimmy fallon showed america last night. watch this. ♪ tonight ♪ tonight ♪ who cares who holds tonight ♪ >> now, that is much better than

the catty sniping they tried a week or two ago when leno likened nbc executives to sewage, and fallon said help know overstayed the welcome. there could be plans to retire leno next month and have jimmy bump up an hour to take over the tonight show in the fall of 2014. never mind that leno, still number one in the ratings in late night, both leno and letterman are down in total viewers this year, but look at how gymny kimmel on abc is gaining since he bumped up to the 11:30 time slot, and abc gaining the ad target of adults under age 50, up 11%, leno down 7%, lettererman down 18%. kimmel has a huge online following, 1.5 million on youtube,950 million view, and fallon with 150,000 fans.

last time this act was tried in 2009, it led to the connan debacle, and over on cable, he just got his contract renewed. >> when does leno say, look, i'm going to go home, play with the cars. >> he just will not let go. when they pry his dead cold fingers from the anchor chair. >> that's what it may take. >> that's his life. that's who he is. >> no, he's not. >> you are going to try to retire him? >> oh, my, god, i can't take it. >> i can identify with it. [laughter] that, and his age. >> yeah, okay, dennis. thank you so much. all right. good stuff. march order sales numbers, by the way, and the u.s. auto makers posted sales compared to a year ago, many having the best month le sales since 2007 leading 15.5 million new vehicles sold. joining me today, jessica

coldwell, senior analyst with what's spurring the sales increase and more of the outlook. before the auto makers, jessica, are the numbers surprising to you? >> no, not really. i mean, we've seen relatively steady sales for the past three months. i mean, we had a steady star, unusual considering all the downturns and ups and downs in the industry for the past few months so i think what is surprising is that the, you know, cars keep selling at a steady rate, despite all the noise out there in the economy. >> looking at some of the individual auto makers, ford, sales a nice boost from the redesigned fusion se dad. people like that car, and the escape suv. what about the f-series pickup, a power house for ford. >> uh-huh. f-series did well too, and the strength of it seems to be in consumer demand. i mean, when you look at the incentives, how they perform from march to february, it was not a big boost there, and,

actually, the ford f-150, a big seller mongs the f-series, sells faster than in months. there's the demand out there, not ford putting them on discount hoping people buy them. there's a push for these vehicles. >> looking at chrysler, sales up 5% in march. thought it was interesting that jeep brand sales, which, you know, led the company for a number of years fell 13%, what's going on there? >> well, i think that they are, you know, in the midst of trying to come out with new models, and showed the jeep cherokee and at the new york international auto show. they're in the process of getting vehicles up to speed, but, you know, it's a competitive market out there, and the suv world, look at all else out there, the pathfinder had a good month and a lopt of the other maker had good monthings in suvs as well. >> gm, sales up 6%, showing nice growth.

>> uh-huh. yeah, gm has done well, again. you know, trucks across the board had a good march. when trucks do well, domestic do well too, gm, no exception. their sales, they, you know, they did relatively well. some of the brands that have struggled, especially last year like cadillac, a lot of new models, and, also, buick who is, you know, awaiting new, fresh r models, they have them now, and sales have gone up. >> jessica, where do we go from here? keep up the pace the rest of the year? >> i mean, we certainly hope so. look at what's driving models now, pent of demand, people who have not bought a car are in the market. as long as that exists, sales continue to be strong, and interest rates, as long as they are low, helps leasing as well as financing, as long as they are friendly and people get loans, that's keeping the market afloat. >> encouraging.

jessica, as always, thank you for joining us, appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> small car sales slow down because the gas prices are relatively low, so more gas guzzlers on the road. >> had a wicked winter too, you know? if i didn't have 4-wheel drive, i'd be home. >> it is quarter till, time for stocks as always. nicole? >> watching -- as we watched the dow, the nasdaq, the s&p with up arrows hitting new highs, the transports sold back, and we're watching dow and the rest of the airlines down arrows, and dell fallon, cutting the first forecast below what people expected. now you are seeing stocks down dramatically. of course, the airlines are a volatile group, you they are exciting. a couple things, lower close in booking, driven by spending cuts known as the sequester. that's a reason, obviously, they

try to keep a tight cut in the cost, but not as good as they hoped. you see the down arrow for all of them, back to you. >> losing altitude. all right, nicole, thanks very much. >> we have seven stocks with new multiyear highs. mcdonald's on the list now. all right. coming up, pension crisis, huh? are you going to have to pay for it tho your tax bill? probably. manhattan institute is going to weigh in next. >> oh, but first, today's winners, the dow losing a little steam, up 73 points, but look at the nasdaq as we go to the break. we'll be right back.

>> all right. that controversial ruling allowed stockton, california to go bankrupt causing concern across the country. the next guest says the problems are not unique. steve of the manhattan institute, senior fellow here with us right now. you say staggering pensions, an issue across the country. >> well, there's no doubt about that. we now know that there are maybe, depending upon how you value them, three to four billion doars in retirement costs that states and cities have not bothered to fund, so even cities and staaes that are not in the kind of economic difficulty that stockton is where unemployment in stockton is 15%, even places in better shape have huge liabilities to pay off. >> bus stockton -- this is a pension story. the bondholders blamed bankruptcy so they didn't have to pay the bond holders, but, really, this is a pension story. >> retirement story, not just pension, but promised health care forever retirement. this is a city of 290,000.

they have 500 million dollars in retirement unfunded -- in health care unfunded liability. >> chapter nine says you can't sell assets. what are you going to sell? where's the money coming from? >> well, here's the thing. first of all, this is what the insurers were saying, the insurers of the bonds said, hey, look, most of the liabilities are retirement liermts. you ask us to take the biggest hit, and it's disproportion gnat. that's what we are going to see in bankruptcy. other cities in california, san bernardino, for instance, in bankruptcy, has actually challenged the idea that they should keep paying into the pension fund. they have stopped paying calpers. we'll see if the pressure in stockton is -- >> does it mean they are in trouble? call about munis were crashing down. >> well, i think that, she, by the way, said, well, what i really meant was -- >> yeah,

well -- >> there's a lot of financial pain out there, and that is actually true. i think where she overestimated is a loot of the places, remember, these pension costs are not what i call hard debts. a bond is a hard debt. you have a payment, make the payment if you make defaults. these pension costs are coming due over the next 15 years, and what happens is the unfunded liabilities grow, and beyond a certain point, it's difficult without big tax increases to, you know, to make this up. that's what people face, not so much a wave of insolvencies as wave after wave of tax increases as in illinois that are eating up by the pension system. >> right. nay increased taxes, went to the pension system, and still in the same place it started. >> absolutely. >> what other states are you worried about? new jersey, i know you're going to say it. >> yes, actually, i am. i did calculations for new jersey, but they continue to fund, you know, further behind,

and they are still projecting average annual investment gains of 17.9%. >> lordy. >> exactly. i calculated in order for the fund to be in decent shape now, the dow has to be at 26,000. by 2020, it has to be at 43,000 for pension funds to be in shape. by 2050, the dow would have to be at 420,000, the equivalent of 420,000. that's what the compounded rates do. people don't understand. the rest of the country, if they are lower than jersey, they project 7%. california's a good example. people -- >> wow. >> by the end of the century, california, the dough would have to be at 23 million for -- [laughter] for california's pension. >> that's a bullish call. >> exactly. [laughter] exactly right. >> i like that. you are the best. you know way it means? i need to relocate before taxes go up. >> you do. >> doing the show from florida from here on out, folks. thank you.

>> we're all worried about new jersey. this is an interesting way to end the show. about the articles, we know that. pretty boy has a new iphone app that skips the nudes. the new content is out of respect for apple's content standards and leaves more to the imagination. because there's no knewty, it's not free. there's a free subscription package available or $1.99, or $19.99 for one year. >> there's no skin. >> basically that's the message from playboy. a big hit. >> rock star. okay. here's a rock star. apple stock, it is, unfortunately, moving into the red in the last 30 minutes after trading higher most of the day. major apple shareholder own why he thinks the stock is still terribly attractive, and that's a quote. liz claman goes through the next hour of trading, and "countdown

to the closing bell" is next. don't go anywhere. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. what's the "new" in the new new york?. a new property tax cap... and the lowest middle class income tax rate in 60 years... and a billion dollars in tax breaks and incentives. new opportunities for business. over 250,000 new private sector jobs were created over the last two years. and 17 straight months of job growth. with the most private sector jobs ever. lower taxes, new incentives, new jobs, now that's news. to grow or start your business in the new new york

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